Sargent Hemlock
Growth habit
Shrub/Tree
Perennation
Long-lived polycarpic perennial
Location
Source of plant
Dr. Hunn, Cornell Botanic Gardens, Atlantic Nurseries, Lake County Nursery Inc.
Description
A large shrub, rounded with long pendulous shoots hanging from a framework of a few spreading, ascending branches without a central leader. In the late 1850s, four pendulous clones were collected in the wild by General Joseph Howland and became known as the "Sargent Hemlocks". Tree #1 was kept by the General in Matteawan, NY, Tree #2 was given to Henry W. Sargent, Fishkill-on-Hudson, Beacon, NY. Tree #3 was given to H.H. Hunnewell, Hunnewell Arboretum, MA. Tree #4 was given to Prof. Charles S. Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum, MA. Trees #1 and #4 were still thriving in 1984 but doubts persisted about the others or their parentage. Arguing that all four are identifiable, Swartley proposed names for them: 'Wodenethe' for #2, 'Hunnewell' for #3 and 'Brookline' for #4, leaving #1 as 'Sargentii'. Swartley (1984) and Peter Del Tredici (in Arnoldia 40(3): 20, 1980 and A giant among the dwarfs; The mystery of Sargent's weeping hemlock, 1983) recount the history of these frist hemlock cultivars in American horticulture in much more detail.
USDA Hardiness Zone
2
Special characteristics
growth habit, winter interest, intermediate conifer